Sign Of The Times

State Street Is Losing Its Brightest Light, But Only For A Short While.

Chicago Theatre Getting A Brand-new Old Look

September 27, 1996|By Sabrina L. Miller, Tribune Staff Writer.

Aging stars don't burn out--they get replaced.

After 75 illuminating years, the towering Chicago Theatre sign, State Street's brightest star and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks, is coming down this week. The 76-foot-high steel sign, with 2,534 lights screaming "Chicago" for all to see, is corroded beyond repair and must be removed, said Chicago Theatre Executive Director Wendy Heimann-Nunes.

Work crews have begun the moving process but were slowed by Thursday's rain and high winds. Weather permitting, the 50,000-pound sign will be moved to a storage facility in the western suburbs by Sunday, Heimann-Nunes said.

For nearly two months afterwards, tourists won't be able to gawk at or take pictures of the sign, which has become as synonymous with Chicago as the old Water Tower and the Picasso in Daley Plaza. But by Thanksgiving, it is hoped that a replica will be in its place, she said.

"Its absence will probably be shocking to some, but I prefer to think of it this way: It will give everyone a rare opportunity to see the vista of State Street without that rare marquee," said Heimann-Nunes.

The sign and the building were designed in 1921 by Chicago architects Cornelius and George Rapp, who were also responsible for the whimsical gems of the Oriental and Uptown Theatres, and built by Barney and A.J. Balaban and Sam and Morris Katz. Most of Chicago's old theaters carried luminous vertical signs as a distinguishing mark, but the Chicago Theatre sign has outlasted all of its local competitors and is one of the oldest of its kind in the U.S.

"It is an important piece of architecture to the city and the nation," said Charles Thurow, deputy commissioner of the city's Department of Planning and Development. "It's an excellent example of the 1920s' fantasy architecture. It represents big, old movie houses."

The Chicago Theatre, at 175 N. State St., has had its share of problems, including financial troubles and disinterested owners. The theater was rescued from demolition when, in 1983, it received landmark status from the city and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The landmark status, in addition to having saved the building, is also saving the sign. Chicago Theatre owners are forbidden from significantly changing the building's landmark facade and were required by law to replicate the sign to its original specifications, said Gary Cole, staff architect and preservation fund director of the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.

"Allowing them to replace this sign is an act that has to be very carefully monitored," Cole said. "But they've been wonderful throughout the entire process."

The future of the original sign remains in doubt. It is too big for the Chicago Historical Society. Officials of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, which also has been mentioned as its new home, have not commented.

The Landmarks Preservation Council required the existing sign's construction to be documented under Historic American Building Survey standards, established by the National Park Service as a means of documenting historic structures. The documentation will be archived by the Library of Congress and will be used to manufacture the replica, Cole said.

"We are ensuring that the sign will look as it did when it was first put up," he said.

Theater officials discovered the sign's deterioration during a routine inspection last March, after the Civic Preservation Foundation assumed management of the theater. The sign appeared fine on the outside, but 75 years of Chicago's harsh weather had taken its toll on the inside.

"It had to be close to falling, the steel was so rusted," said Steve Kieffer, owner of Kieffer & Co., the Sheboygan, Wis., firm that is manufacturing the replica for $500,000.

"If it was at all possible to keep the original, we would have done it," said Heimann-Nunes. "But it would have cost us two to three times as much to repair than to replace."

So, how does one go about replicating a national landmark? Painstakingly, said Kieffer. Everything must be identical, from the seams between the metal pieces and obsolete maintenance ladders inside the top of the sign to intricate scrollwork.

The entire project will take about 860 hours of work, he said. The sign will be made in Sheboygan, then shipped to the Kieffer firm's Buffalo Grove office, where an installation team will take it to Chicago.

The replica will be constructed from aluminum, which weighs about one-third less than the current steel sign and will ease stress on the building, Kieffer said. There will be a modern wiring system and "chaser" lights around the perimeter will be reconnected.